Could I get some website feedback, please?
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Hi SVS fam!
I've been off exploring other things for a while, and I just realized my website was way out of date. I'm still in that phase where my top 5 favorite pieces switches out every six months, and it's super great to get some feedback & fresh eyes when it's time for me to reevaluate.Right now I'm trying to differentiate between 2 different types of work, but I'm not quite sure where the dividing line should be, and what I should call them. I want to offer clients a division between my really complex time consuming stuff, and also a simpler category of stuff.Right now my two website sections are called "Super Detailed Art" and "Playful Kidlit Art" (which really could just be called Other i guess).But now I'm second guessing that I maybe should divide by age of target audience, or publication category, or something else entirely?I'd love to get some feedback on that style division question, as well as anything else you notice as you look at my site. It's www.valerielightillustration.com
EDIT: I MADE A BUNCH OF UPDATES BASED ON ALL YOUR WONDERFUL ADVICE! NEW VERSION IS LIVE NOW.
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@Valerie-Light
Hi Valerie, your website is wonderful, one thing I’d suggest is I didn’t see your name in big print anywhere, unless I missed it… it’s nice to put a face to your name too! -
Your art is so great, I wish I could make images like yours!
I’d say atm your page is not helping your art as much as it could, but I think that with a few smaller tweaks you could improve it a lot.
1 . The image caption in the light box view should either describe the image and the media, or be blank.
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I don’t think these headlines do much for you. I especially don’t like the “super detailed stuff”-one, it sounds a bit flippant and a bit like you’re putting your art down. If you want to divide your artwork into categories, I’d definitely rename them. I don’t have good suggestions for you, but if I were you I’d lean into the whimsy of your style and call the detailed stuff something like “Art to get lost in” or “stories to get lost in” or something like that. Also, pick one style for your headlines, either all caps or normal, but don’t mix them.
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I have to scroll to the bottom to see your name, I’d place that at the very top of the page.
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Girl, your contact form is so well hidden I thought for a long time you didn’t have one. Make that it’s own page and link it in the main navigation. Consider adding a contact form directly at the bottom of the each portfolio page as well.
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Your about me text is super long, but well written and endearing. Consider breaking it up by inserting some of your quirky self portraits as paragraph dividers.
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At the end of the presentation text you say “i am open to commissions and contact me for prints”, which is probably neither the right place to say that, or the best phrasing. If I were you, I’d set up a shop for the prints, and just link to that, and move the commission info to the contact-me page.
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The gallery pages are fine, but a bit annoying when browsing using my phone. I find especially with your detailed images that I want to zoom in, but when I do the whole frame collapses and everything becomes quite unmanageable. I don’t think this is something you’ll get around easily, I think it’s a limitation in the Wix-component, but I wonder if you could maybe solve the problem by adding a few zoomed in crops (select parts) of your detailed work?
Ok. That turned into a wall of text, hopefully you’ll be able to extract some value from it. In the end, your art is so good that it makes up for a lot of the stuff in the list above, but I think investing a bit more time is still worth it. Best of luck, and keep us updated!
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@Valerie-Light what great images you make! @Mia-Clarke had already many great suggestions. Here is my two cents.
- Your name really needs to be on the top of the page to stick in people's mind in connection to your illustrations.
- Seperate the bio and contact page.
- Come up with different names for your galleries. I like Mia's the stories to get lost in suggestion. I think the grouping of the illustrations in itself works well, I wouldn't use more than two categories.
- Try to shorten your bio, however well written. People read very little and have shockingly short attention spans. Maybe even more so for potential new clients.
- Maybe try to get a clearer picture of what sort of work you want? Right now it seem to be very wide and of the detailed art Im not always sure what sort of jobs you want to be going for. The kidlit ones show a clearer focus to me.
- When I click on your website I link to the kid lit gallery first, but it's second in the menu. That's a minor detail though.
Go get those illustration jobs! Good luck!
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@Mia-Clarke @Chantal-Goetheer Thank you for the thorough notes. I'm learning a lot from the things you both pointed out! I'm headed off to work now but I'm looking forward to diving in later this evening.
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@Valerie-Light hi Valerie. I think you should just combine the Super Detailed Stuff and the Playful Kidlit Art. For me at least, their style is the same. Just discuss with any future client how complex they want the project to be to manage expectations. There’s a few pieces i thin you can do without but overall, it looks great
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@Valerie-Light -- beautiful work, as always! Love your style.
Agreeing with the general consensus, and adding my two cents:
- Your website needs a header. Your name should be clearly visible, as well as making it easy for potential clients to contact you. Consider inserting 'contact' buttons at the bottom of your portfolio pages. Separate the bio and contact tab, giving each their own tab.
- Yes, you should organize your portfolio into two different categories. Not necessarily "detailed" and "other" -- the style is actually quite similar, as @Nyrryl-Cadiz pointed out. However, you have adult-focused art and kid-focused art in your detailed tab -- it could be a turn off for some to see an innocent kid lit piece right next to a piece that is more adult in theme, and that contains non-kid-friendly language. What if the categories were something like "art for adults" (or quirky like "art for big kids" if you don't want it confused with adult-adult art) and "art for kids"?
- Your bio, while adorable, is rather long. It might be a big ask to expect an AD or editor with limited time to read it all. I've seen some bio pages that have a short and sweet, just-the-basics bio, followed by a longer bio, if someone has the time and wants to learn more. That might be something to consider.
Again, lovely work! Looking forward to hearing about great things coming your way!
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@Mia-Clarke I'm digesting all your great advice above, and wanted to ask about the frame collapse problem. I'm sure you can tell I'm pretty much a novice at this. I want my gallery to look like the one on your website! Large, tiled images that suit the proportions of the original art. Do I just need to restart my site on Squarespace instead of Wix to get this to happen? I must be missing some menu in Wix that would let me do this.
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@Valerie-Light wix is such a pain in the butt! I created mine using my iPad and I think that was an issue are you using a desktop?
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@Valerie-Light I’m not really sure how Wix works, but I would be surprised if they didn’t support full bleed for their galleries. I wouldn’t scrap what you have just yet.
️ Did you read through the Wix gallery tutorial page yet? From scanning it quickly, I think you should be able to set your gallery to single column, full width, and then set image scaling to fit.If that doesn’t work, I think it’s still fine. I would focus on the other content notes rather than on the full bleed, because that’s where I think you’ll get the most bang for your buck. I know stuff like this can feel overwhelming if you’ve never done it before, but you’ll be a pro in no time! Hang in there!
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@Mia-Clarke thank you so much for taking the time to link that wix info. I've got a gallery setup now that's not quite what I wish, but shows off those big picture details so much better.
@Nyrryl-Cadiz @Melissa-Bailey you are absolutely right about the age group division, and now that I've split it that way I can't believe I ever had it organized another way.
@Asyas_illos why does Wix seem to specialize in making things aaaalmost work? I was checking out your cute website gallery, and I think your contact link might be non-working?
I feel really good about this website refresh! in addition to reformatting my galleries, I've updated the captions and some SEO stuff, cut my bio in half, added a name header and a lot more opportunities for contact, etc etc. Next up is a SHOP page!! (but not tonight)
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@Valerie-Light yes and I don’t know how to fix that if you click the back button and refresh it tends to work but that’s still a problem it’s enough for someone to lose interest.
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@Valerie-Light It looks heaps better, now I’m able to see and zoom the art. Great work!
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@Valerie-Light Hi Valerie! Your artwork is so beautiful!
I remember being very impressed when I watched the Rabbit Road Race Critique Arena and saw your entry.I agree that your site looks a lot better based on the great advice given by others. Here are my comments:
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The banner with your name on it (which is super pretty by the way!) doesn’t appear at the top of the page when you go to the website. It’s way down at the bottom. It should be the first thing people see!
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On your “Art for Grownups” page, the last 3 images look to me like they are children’s book illustrations, or at least they wouldn’t be only for grownups.
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I’m not a big fan of the term “little kids”. Especially because some of your work could be appropriate for older children.
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I don’t feel like the division between your two styles works. The only real division I see is that the 2 pieces with the flowers/text have their own style. All the rest seem to fall within the same realm.
Great job on the redesign - your new bio is great!
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@Valerie-Light I think your site looks great! I agree with @susanhowarth-art that the last three images on "Art for Grownups" section seem more for children, maybe older children, but I wouldn't necessarily put them in the grown-up category. I love your tortoise and the hare piece and would put that closer to the top because it is so amazing. Same with your haunted house one. I actually have a hard time saying which one is my favorite since you have so many good pieces.
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@susanhowarth-art Thanks for the compliments and feedback, Susan! I didn't realize the name header wasn't pinned to the top on mobile, so I think that's fixed now. I'll take your advice on the 'little kids' phrasing. I just switched it to "Editorial and Game Art" and "Art for Kids" I'd love to hear your take on that.
I want to do work for kids (and I'm working on a baby board book, and I'd love to do stuff for Highlights or Ranger Rick, etc.) but I also want to do fanged monsters for board games and sassy field guides with swear words.
and @Kim-Rosenlof you're right that the 3 monster family images don't agree. Will you check out this revision?
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@Valerie-Light I think the distinction between “Editorial and Game” and “Art for Kids” works a lot better.
The only other thing I’d mention is that if you are looking for work in children’s art and someone goes to your website, they won’t see anything on the main page that indicates you do that kind of work. At least in mobile (where I’m looking), it’s hidden in the menu drop down. I’m not sure what the fix would be though!
